Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Amnesty International Responds to U.S. House Report on Guantanamo Detainees
Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA's policy director for (counter) terrorism and human rights, issued the following statement in response to the congressional report released by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that examined efforts by the Obama and Bush administrations to move detainees from the U.S.-controlled detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:
February 9, 2012
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Israel to Release Palestinian on Hunger Strike, Or Charge and Try Him Promptly
Amid fears a Palestinian detainee could die after more than 50 days on a hunger strike, Amnesty International today called on the Israeli authorities to release the man or charge him with a recognizable criminal offense and promptly try him.
February 6, 2012
Press Release
“Trust me” is not enough of a safeguard, says Amnesty International, as President Obama signs the NDAA into law
Despite expressing serious reservations about the NDAA, the Obama administration has paved the way for legislation that will authorize indefinite detention.
January 1, 2012
Press Release
Mexico Still Failing to Protect Migrants, Says Amnesty International
The Mexican government has failed to live up to its promise to protect migrants from widespread human rights abuses, Amnesty International said today, ahead of International Migrants Day.
December 19, 2011
Report
Guantánamo: A Decade of Damage to Human Rights
While Guantánamo may have dropped from the news headlines, the human rights concerns associated with it -- detentions and torture among them -- remain.
December 16, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Malaysian Government To Abolish The Internal Security Act
The Malaysian government must halt detentions under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), Amnesty International said today, after the authorities said they had used the law to detain 13 people this week. Police arrested the detainees on November 13 and 14 in Tawau, a town in Sabah in eastern Malaysia. Seven are Malaysian, and the other six are foreign nationals. The ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without charge or trial, has been used to imprison critics of the government and opposition politicians as well as suspected militants.
November 17, 2011
Press Release
Finland Must Further Investigate US Rendition Flights, says Amnesty International
The Finnish authorities must further investigate newly released data to determine if U.S. rendition flights landed in the country, Amnesty International said today.
November 1, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Finds Widespread Abuse — and Even Torture — of Captured and Detained Al-Gaddafi Soldiers, Loyalists and Mercenaries Under Libya’s Transitional Government
Captured al-Gaddafi soliders, suspected loyalists and mercenaries held in western Libya are being beaten, and, in some cases, tortured in custody, Amnesty International said today in a new report that calls on the Libyan transitional authorities to immediately halt both arbitrary detentions and widespread abuse of detainees.
October 13, 2011
Press Release
China Should Release Jailed Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo and wife, says Amnesty International
The Chinese authorities must immediately release prisoners of conscience Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia, Amnesty International said today, a year after the jailed activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and his wife placed under illegal house arrest.
October 6, 2011
Report
Syria: Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty International report reveals today. Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria documents reported deaths in custody between April and mid-August in the wake of sweeping arrests. The 88 deaths represented a significant escalation in the number of deaths following arrest in Syria. In recent years Amnesty International has typically recorded around five deaths in custody per year in Syria. "These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to be an…
August 31, 2011
Press Release
Libyan Civilians and Foreign Migrants at Risk Amid Tripoli Battle, Says Amnesty International
Prolonged fighting in the Libyan capital Tripoli endangers civilian lives and has the potential to create a humanitarian crisis.
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Secure Communities Expansion a Draconian Step; Will Undermine Crime Prevention and Further Marginalize Groups Who Are Already at Risk, Says Amnesty International
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - In response to the announcement today that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will nullify all existing Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) with local governments, Sarnata Reynolds, advocacy and policy director for refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) issued the following statement: "It is astounding that DHS ignored the advice of numerous state and local governments and ratcheted up its heartless and arbitrary attack on undocumented immigrants. Amnesty International is very concerned that this decision essentially rejects the outcry from governments and advocates, exhibiting no respect for the very communities…
August 8, 2011